JREF Swift Blog

Here is a rundown of the top stories in oddities and paranormal news from the past week courtesy ofDoubtful News.

This big news this week was another exposure of the Burzynski cancer treatment claims. First, we got news that the FDA sent a letter to the Burzynski clinic in Texas warning them of language they used in promotion of the clinic. It turns out they were hyping the claims they were supposed to be testing, "safe and effective", for their antineoplastons treatment. More came later this week as it became more and more clear that there is a difference between conventional trials for new drugs and those claims from unconventional clinics that charge patients and sell potential false hope.

Another unconventional treatment, chelation, was in the news when the results of a long anticipated study were released. The study was spun but, overall, it does not support the glowing claims made by chelation advocates.

UFOs and Bigfoot were in the news this week. Unfortunately, the evidence presented was extremely poor. A local Denver news station did an extremely bizarre story of UFOs that looked very obviously like bugs.

A very unclear video of Bigfoot surfaced this week from Provo Canyon, Utah. Then, it went viral. It's what the Bigfoot community would label a "blobsquatch" - a dark blob that is interpreted as being a Sasquatch.

More strange things in the media, local officials seem to still fall for the "Satanic" crime label, even when it may be something completely different.

The bad news of the week was pretty awful. A self-proclaimed psychic with a criminal past is accused of being part of a murder plot.